


Jingle Bell Rock

by somalester



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic Avengers, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Grinch References, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-20 03:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17015253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somalester/pseuds/somalester
Summary: Prompt: "Tony finds out Steve also doesn't like Christmas & instead invites him to spend Grinchmas together. Just the two of them in a ski lodge / cabin somewhere in the snowy backwoods. It turns out they are both much more full of the christmas spirit than they thought."





	Jingle Bell Rock

**Author's Note:**

  * For [1electricpirate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/1electricpirate/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy this! I actually started doing your second prompt first, but that didn't work out so I went with the third one instead. Happy Holidays!
> 
> (This is set in early 2012 canon. The Avengers are all a big happy family. Civil War who?)

“Is this normal? 'Cause I’m pretty sure you once told me it’s definitely not.”

Pepper rolled her eyes at him. “Tony, that was a _teddy bear_ , not a Christmas tree. Trees are allowed to be that big you know.”

Tony huffed. “That doesn’t mean I need one in my living space.”

”Well unfortunately, your living space also contains your company. And it makes customers feel more relaxed if we decorate.”

“Doesn’t mean we need a seven foot tall tree next to the entrance,” Tony grumbled.

Pepper skillfully ignored him and rushed off to her next appointment, leaving Tony to scowl up at the golden ornaments on the tree that now stood in the entrance hall of the tower.

It wasn’t like Tony was trying to be a pain to Pepper on purpose; the obnoxious tree really did make him feel uneasy. Every year, it reminded him of the one that Howard used to have set up in their living room, and that didn’t exactly mean happy family vibes. Cue him avoiding Christmas trees wherever he possibly could.

When he went upstairs a few minutes later, he ran into his teammates in the kitchen on their shared floor. Thankfully, someone had yet to try and decorate he upper floors, and Tony gratefully sat down on one of the black, luxurious chairs.

“What crawled up your ass and died?” Clint asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

Tony made a face. “Did you see the giant tree at the entrance? I think Pepper went nuts.”

Bruce frowned at him. “Tony, trees are naturally that big.”

“Bet I could find a way to make smaller ones,” Tony grumbled.

“I don’t think that’s reasonable,” Bruce said carefully.

“Now you just sound like Pepper.”

Bruce sighed and looked like he was about to lecture Tony some more, but fortunately Steve chose that moment to join them. “

Steve!” Tony cried. “Help me, you team is being mean to me!”

Steve stared at them. “What’s going on here? And why’s the tree downstairs so big?”

And that was Tony’s first clue that Steve liked Christmas about as much as he did.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony’s second clue actually arrived in the form of an overly enthusiastic Clint Barton.

It was the second week of December; northern states like Mishigan were already covered in beautiful, pristine white snow. In the midst of New York though, all they got was a wet, squishy mud that probably would’ve resembled snow if not for all the filth of the city. It was disgusting, quite frankly. And if that wasn’t enough, the day of his mother’s death was approaching far too quickly.

In conclusion, Tony was nursing a serious case of piss-poor mood.

Unfortunately, Clint picked that day to finally decorate the communal floor of the tower, and he did so with Thor’s help. (Tony didn’t even want to think about how he’d managed to get the god to help _decorating_ of all things; probably told him some elaborate story about how it was super important in Midgardian culture.)

As soon as Tony saw Clint with the giant cardboard box full of ornaments and lights, he left the room. Better yet, he left the floor altogether and went down to the gym to take his bad mood out on the boxing bag.

Which worked, for about half an hour, and then Clint came barging in with strings of tinsel wrapped around his neck.

Tony stared at him.

Clint grinned. “Guess what? I left Thor in charge of the living room so I can do the rest of the tower!”

“You’re nuts.”

“Excuse me. I’m only being efficient!”

Tony sighed, trying to keep his mood from _really_ having a breakdown. “If we don’t have a living room by the end of the day, it’s your fault.”

Clint just shrugged. “I’ll happily take that chance.” Then he took the tinsel from around his neck and started wrapping it around the treadmills. Tony paused in his assault of the boxing bag to stare. Apparently, Clint was very much not kidding with this.

For a second, he considered going after Clint and ripping all the decorations off, but considering that he wasn’t planning to be at the tower during Christmas anyway, it seemed like too much of a struggle.

When he was done desecrating their gym, Clint grinned at him and left.

Tony was still eyeing the leftover glitter with desperation, when the door opened again a few minutes later.

In came Steve, in full workout clothes with a shirt that left nothing to the imagination.

Tony swallowed, told himself not to stare, and did it anyway. Honestly, it was a ritual at this point. And who could blame him, really, with how well-defined and smooth Steve’s muscles were. (His feelings were just a small factor in it all. It wasn’t like that counted. Or that, at least, was what Tony told himself.)

It took a few moments for Tony to realize that neither of them had verbally acknowledged the other’s presence. Tony because he was too busy admiring the goods, and Steve because he was now moving towards the treadmills.

Tony blinked. Normally, he only saw that kind of determined step in Steve during a battle, what was -

Oh.

Steve went and ripped the tinsel right off the machines, without saying a word.

When he was done, he turned around as if he only then noticed Tony was even there.

“Oh, hey Tony.”

No explanation as to what had just occurred there, but Tony didn’t really need one. Apparently, he had an ally in Steve.

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as the clock struck midnight, something changed in Tony. It was December 16th now, and he was 17 again, standing alone on a graveyard.

At least, that was what it felt like. In reality, he was sitting on the couch in the communal living room, fighting with the urge to give in to drinking. When Steve sat down next to him, Tony was staring longingly at the liquor cupboard in the kitchen.

“Tony?”

Tony grunted as a way of showing his affirmation that he’d heard, but didn’t look at him.

“Is everything okay?” Steve asked tentatively.

Tony turned and raised an eyebrow at him. “Why yes of course. I’m always okay.”

It came out on exactly the right tone - flippant, uncaring.

Steve frowned at him. “Are you sure? It’s just, I’ve never seen you like this. Sitting and doing nothing, I mean.”

Tony snorted. “What can I say, I live to disappoint.”

Steve huffed, but didn’t say anything.

For a few minutes, they remained in silence. To his own surprise, Tony felt Steve’s company as quite comforting, which, most disturbingly, made him want to _tell_ Steve what was going on. He didn’t, though. His parent’s death was public record, so Steve probably knew anyway, and the things that hadn’t been on the tabloids weren’t topics Tony liked to discuss with, well, anyone.

For example, the fact that he’d never really gotten over it, and that he sat there every year waiting for the clock to strike midnight.

“You should go to sleep,” Steve said softly.

Tony smiled wryly. Yeah, sleep. It tugged on his eyes and his concentration, but he refused to give in. He knew exactly what he’d see if he did.

“I think I’m fine where I am,” Tony said, a bit coldly, but Steve took it in stride.

“Mind if I turn on the TV then?”

Tony shook his head, and soon Steve was zapping the channels until he found a documentary on the history of European art and settled for that.

And, well, for all Tony cared, Steve might as well have given him a sleeping pill. He tried to focus on the screen - since focusing on his own thoughts was much worse - but it wasn’t any good. He never got art. There was something to it that others saw that he didn’t.

As he was sitting there, staring at the screen and trying not to think about his mother, time stretched on and slowly crawled into the wee hours of the mornings.

Tony was surprised Steve was still there, since he had an entire floor to himself, but the Captain seemed perfectly at ease. (And Tony found comfort in his presence, so he didn’t call Steve out on it.)

Eventually, it was Tony who lost the fight with his exhaustion and fell asleep. Later that day, he woke up with a blanket tucked around him and no sign of Steve.

 

* * *

 

 

Four days later, Tony strolled into the team’s shared kitchen feeling better than he had in weeks.

In contrast, once he’d inhaled his first coffee and started to get aware to his surroundings, he saw Steve sitting on the table, looking utterly miserable.

Tony took the chair opposite Steve and tried to get a look at the letters Steve was looking at. “Hey man.”

“Good morning Tony.”

The reply was perfectly polite, but it wasn’t hard to tell that Steve wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

“What are these?” Tony asked, nodding towards the papers.

Steve sighed. “Invitations. To Christmas party’s, galas... Everything really.”

Tony made a face. “Ew.”

Steve smiled a bit. “Yeah. I’m just trying to figure out which one won’t be so bad.”

Tony frowned. “Why? I thought you didn’t like these.”

“I didn’t like the USO shows either.” Steve sounds resigned, almost depressed. “But it know it’s important for me to show up. If it’s for charity, you know.”

Tony knew all too well, and he’d been the one to explain to Steve why he kept dragging the Avengers to these events. It was a lot easier for them to convince people to donate than for anyone else.

“I got pretty much all of these too,” Tony said casually. “Declined all of ‘em.”

“Really? Why?”

“Eh, I’m leaving for my cabin in Utah in three days.”

“Oh.” For all it was worth, Steve looked positively envious. “Have fun, then.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to go to all these things either. We do that all year round, take a break.”

“Yeah,” Steve said slowly, contemplating. “Maybe I should.”

Jesus, Tony thought. This was like watching a whimpering puppy that didn’t know how to help itself.

Which was totally the reason for what he did next. And not the fact that having Steve all to himself in his remote cabin sounded like everything he’d ever wished for at night as a teenager.

“Come with me.”

Steve stared at him. “What?”

“Come with me,” Tony repeated. “To Utah, I mean.”

Steve was still staring at him, which made Tony fidget nervously. “Only if you want to, of course. But I figure it’s better than staying here with Clint and all his decorations, right?”

Steve seemed to think about it, and Tony tried to pretend he didn’t want Steve to say yes as badly as he did.

Finally, a hesitant smile spread across Steve’s face. “If it’s no bother for you, I’d really like that.”

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the team wasn’t exactly impressed they were leaving for Christmas, but as soon as Clint made he first joke about what they’d get up to during that week all alone by themselves, their disappointment soon turned into teasing.

Which _hadn’t_ made Tony feel uncomfortably hot, thank you very much.

When he steered his Jeep into the broad driveway of his two-story wooden lodge though, those three days of inappropriate comments were definitely worth it.

When Tony killed the engine and looked over to Steve, the blond was staring out the window with his mouth hanging open.

Tony playfully shoved his shoulder. “What’s the matter?”

Steve blinked and looked back at him. “That’s, a little more than a cabin Tony.”

Tony grinned. “Well, we’ve come a long way since the Great Depression.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, something heavy suddenly in his voice.

Tony frowned, realizing that probably hadn’t been the best thing to say. He wanted to ask what was going on with Steve, but he wasn’t good at that kind of conversation, and he wasn’t sure Steve would appreciate it.

“Let’s go up,” Tony urged instead to get rid of the awkward silence that had filled the car.

Since he’d used this cabin as a strategic retreat during Christmas for almost five years now, the only thing he’d needed to do was have supplies shipped to the cabin and he was good to go.

Steve though had to pack everything for the first time. Naturally, being Steve, he just took his single duffel bag from the backseat and followed Tony up to the cabin.

The main doors opened to a large living space with an open kitchen and a fireplace under the TV. On the other side, a wide spiral staircase led to the upper floor. Everything was flooded with light, since the first floor had ceiling-to-floor windows, framed by the thick logs that lined the walls.

“Bedrooms are upstairs,” Tony said, making a vague gesture to the stairwell. “Just take whatever one you want, I’ll mostly be in the workshop anyway.”

“You have a workshop here,” Steve responded, and Tony had to give him credit for not even making it sound like a question.

“Yep.” Tony grinned. “Nothing like celebrating Grinchmas than pulling a few all-nighters.”

Steve stared at him. “What’s a Grinch?”

Tony turned to look at him, slowly. “Excuse me? You’ve never heard of everyone’s favorite Christmas-hating green goblin?”

Okay, _now_ Steve was really staring.

Tony sighed. “Never mind my workshop. We’re watching a movie tonight.”

“Alright,” Steve said weakly.

Tony supposed Steve’s cluelessness really wasn’t that much of a surprise, considering how many years of pop culture he was missing, and felt a little bad for forgetting the fact. “Don’t worry, it’s a good movie. Or so I’m told.”

He’d actually only ever seen the short special they’d aired when he was 12. When the film came out in 2000, he’d been way too busy feeling miserable to bother.

Steve was still frowning and Tony knew he probably should’ve given Steve a chance to refuse. Who knew if the man even wanted to have anything to do with him, for all Tony knew Steve had just wanted to get away from New York - Yeah, he didn’t really think this whole thing through.

“I can make us some food,” Steve said, ripping Tony out of his spiraling thoughts.

Tony blinked. “What?”

“Food,” Steve repeated. “For dinner? Before the movie?”

“Oh.”

_Yes Tony, not everyone thinks surviving on coffee and fast-food is a good idea._

The scolding voice in his head sounded way too much like Pepper.

“Thank you,” Tony hurried to say, then immediately ruined it by letting his mouth talk on without a filter. “I’d tell you where everything is but I’ve never used the kitchen except for the coffee machine.”

But Steve’s lips actually tilted up in a smile. “I’ll just figure it out then.”

Tony mumbled his affirmation and turned away to avoid staring at that adorably amused expression. At this point, he couldn’t even deny his crush to himself. (And now they were alone. In a cabin. He _really_ didn’t think this through.)

Steve made lasagna. When Tony resurfaced from the workshop a few hours later, still feeling a bit embarrassed by himself, a delicious smell was floating through the cabin.

“This is _amazing_ ,” Tony declared upon entering the kitchen.

Steve turned from where he’d taken the lasagna out of the oven and raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t even tried it."

“But I smelled it,” Tony argued.

Steve tolled his eyes, but didn’t look annoyed. “Would you set the table, please?”

As Tony got the plates out of one of the cupboards, he couldn’t help but think about how scarily romantic this all seemed. The sun had already gone down at least, so they wouldn’t have to sit through the fucking _sunset_ , and the snowy forest outside was covered in darkness too.

On a whim, Tony decided to already get the movie going; he was almost never eating without doing something else on the side anyway, and he really wanted to avoid the awkward silence that would undoubtedly follow.

To his surprise, Steve didn’t seem to mind all that much. He joined him a few moments later with the lasagna and together they settled back to watch the movie. It was weird. It felt as comfortable as all the other movie nights with the team did, even though they were completely alone, on a snowed-in mountain. It was as if they’d been friends for years. Or partners for years, but Tony was trying very hard not to think about that possibility.

As it turned out, _How The Grinch Stole Christmas_ was, in fact, a movie for people who did like Christmas, since in the end even the Grinch had to admit that there was something magical about the festive season. For fucks sake, he even helped return all the presents he’d stolen.

To his own surprise, Tony did mind the ending that much; it was to be expected from a commercial film after all.

“You were right,” Steve said. By now, they’d migrated to the couch in front of the fireplace, and covered in blankets as he was, Steve looked nothing short of adorable.

Tony blinked. In his staring he had, of course, already forgotten what Steve had said. “Huh?”

“It is a good movie,” Steve clarified. “The ending was so hopeful.”

 _Figures_ , Tony thought. Of course someone as good and generous as Steve was would appreciate it. Tony wouldn’t even have ever guessed that Steve didn’t like Christmas in the first place; it seemed like something that just was a part of the American picket-fence dream.

“Thank you.”

It was said so quietly Tony almost missed it. He frowned, looked at Steve’s guarded face. “For what?”

“Taking me with you,” Steve clarified. “It’s lovely here.”

Tony shrugged, trying to pretend like that didn’t mean as much to him as it did.

“No, really,” Steve pressed. “Back in the war, we didn’t... we didn’t have these kinds of opportunities. The most exciting thing we ever did was go sledding in the parks. And we didn’t even have real sleighs.”

Tony pictured Steve, maybe along with Bucky, racing down hills on old pieces of wood and felt a pang of jealousy. “I’ve never done that.”

“What?”

Tony scowled. Fine, he’d had a rich childhood, by that didn’t warrant that much of a shocked expression. “I didn’t have a lot of friends Steve. And Dad wouldn’t have -” He came to a halt, realizing Steve probably didn’t want to know that his wartime friend turned out to be a grade A asshole.

Luckily, Steve didn’t even notice. His eyes were shining with joyous excitement, and it lightened up his whole face. “Lets go sledding!”

Tony stared at him. “What.”

“Come on! It’s fun!”

“It’s so dark outside I couldn’t even see my own feet.”

“Then we’ll go tomorrow. Don’t try to get it out of this!”

And well, Tony felt like denying Steve now - with that face he was making - would be a capital offense.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony hated his life.

He was wearing his biggest parka and the massive boots that he almost never used. And yet, he was still shivering and he was pretty sure some snow had already fallen into his shoes.

Steve was trodding through the woods in front of him, his steps a lot more effortless than Tony’s.

Stupid serum.

He turned around to check on Tony every few minutes, his cheeks a lovely red and with a stupid, encouraging smile on his face.

Tony was tempted to ask _Are we there yet?_ every time, but his pride wouldn’t let him. He just trotted after Steve and wallowed in his misery.

Tony didn’t have a sleigh at his cabin, much less any maps of the surrounding area, which had given him hope of getting out of this, but Steve had just flattened out some cardboard boxes and used Google Maps.

“There we are!”

Tony involuntarily let out a breathy _“Finally”_ without even looking at what Steve meant.

“It’s been fifteen minutes Tony.”

“Exactly!” Tony cried.

Steve just shook his head and held out one of the cardboards.

On their left, the side of the mountain was more shallow and the trees were further apart. Standing there, Tony still didn’t get the excitement, but he indulged Steve. ( _It’s Christmas Eve after all_ , a small voice in his head whispered, which Tony pointedly ignored. They were doing this to escape Christmas goddammit.)

“Just follow me!” Steve said, and that was all warning Tony got, then Steve sat down on his piece of cardboard and started to race down the slope.

Tony was frozen for a second. “Hey! Wait for me!”

“Too late!” Steve called back.

Tony sighed. It was, apparently, well and truly too late.

A few seconds later, he was following Steve down the mountain. Laying face-down on the cardboard, he picked up speed a lot fast than Steve did and caught up with him effortlessly.

When Tony rushed past him, Steve started laughing.

“Hey, at least I’m faster than you!” Tony called, and found, to his own surprise, that he was grinning like an idiot.

It wasn’t like flying. Hell, it wasn’t like driving a fast car, either, but he couldn’t seem to shake that ridiculous grin. Steve was yelling something behind him that Tony couldn’t quite understand, by it sounded happy, and Tony’s heart swelled even more.

By the time the landscape got more shallow, Tony wasn’t feeling the snow in his boots anymore. He was almost inclined to admit that Steve’d been right in saying the hike would be worth it.

However, that feeling faded when Steve reminded him of the fact that they’d have to walk back, and the wind abruptly started to pick up.

“This is why I don’t go outside when I’m here,” Tony mumbled.

“It’s not that far,” Steve said. “We’ll get back to the cabin before the weather gets really bad.”

As it turned out, even though Steve had more experience with the outdoors than Tony, the conditions got worse a lot quicker than anticipated. By the time they came back to the cabin, snow had begun falling as well, getting thicker every minute.

Tony’d seldom been so happy to get back inside - except, when they stepped into the cabin, they were met with freezing cold.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” Tony exclaimed upon realizing that, since the lights weren’t working either, the power had most likely gone out.

He couldn’t exactly go and fix it himself either, since a look at the news on his phone confirmed that the storm had damaged the power cables that supplied the small community they were residing in with electricity.

Meanwhile, Steve had already jumped into action. When Tony looked up from his phone, he’d already dumped an array of blankets onto the couch in front of the fireplace.

“I’ve never used that thing,” Tony blurted.

Steve shrugged. “I’m gonna get some wood. If you can find something to light them with, we should be fine.”

And so, a few minutes later, they met in the living area, Tony staring at the chunks of tree in Steve’s arms, and Steve staring at Tony’s wielding torch.

“I had one in my workshop,” Tony defended himself, without even really knowing why.

Steve just smiled. “Of course you did. Come on, we gotta get you warm.”

With a bit of swearing and much more patience on Steve’s side they managed to get a fire going. The effect was immediate; Tony felt like his fingers and toes were just then slowly coming back to life.

“You should get out of your wet clothes and under the blankets,” Steve said.

Tony couldn’t help it; the opportunity was too good. “What, you’re not even gonna buy me dinner first?”

The effect was immediate. Steve’s cheeks colored a lovely red. “This isn’t funny, Tony. Get under the blankets before you freeze to death.”

Tony frowned at the snippy reply, even as he complied and tugged off his socks, pants and jacket. Sure, he’d made a joke but he did that all the time. Why did this one seemed to bother Steve so much, he couldn’t explain.

Once he was covered in blankets, Steve turned away from the fireplace.

Tony frowned. “Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna make us some food,” Steve said curtly, without looking at him.

“Steve -” Tony started, but Steve didn’t even acknowledge he’d heard him.

Tony tugged the blankets around him tighter and stared into the fire in front of him.

It was Christmas Eve. Normally, he’d be holed up in his workshop, on exactly zero hours of sleep and way too many coffees, doing everything he could to forget what day it was. And yet, he’d followed Steve out into the woods. He’d had fun, even. And he thought Steve did too, but right now, it was like Steve was consciously trying to get away from him.

Tony let him, for a while. After all, he was hungry, and he couldn’t exactly force Steve to cuddle with him.

Except, when he looked back to the kitchen, Steve was standing with his back to him, hands braced on the isle, unmoving. Every muscle seemed to be tensed up, as if he was waiting for a fight.

Tony stared at him in concern. An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach, and then he realized.

_Oh, you idiot._

The temperature had already dropped below 50 degrees. Tony could feel the cold where his head and shoulders were sticking out of the blanket. And if he could feel it, he could only imagine how bad it was for Steve, who’d been frozen in the Arctic ice for seventy years.

“Steve,” Tony called softly. “Get back here.”

Steve didn’t move, didn’t even acknowledge him. Tony sighed and untangled himself from the cocoon on the couch. He moved towards Steve hesitantly. He knew this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation, and he’d known Steve for little longer than half a year. But still, he couldn’t just sit there and watch, while Steve was -

“Hey,” Tony whispered carefully.

“Get back to the couch Tony.” Steve’s voice was tight, as if hold together by a vise.

“You’re cold too,” Tony responded, matter-of-factly. “I know I can be an ass but I don’t mind if we share.”

Steve didn’t react. Tony stepped towards him, tentatively laid a hand on his shoulder...

And was violently shoved backwards.

Tony stumbled and caught himself with one hand on the thankfully cold stove. Steve was staring at him in horror.

“Oh god.”

Tony was already shaking his head, but Steve went on anyway.

“Tony, are you alright, I’m so sorry, I don’t -”

“Hey.” Tony held up a hand. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have done that without warning you.”

Steve avoided his eyes, obviously still miserable. “Look, I’m fine, nothing happened. Just, will you please come to the couch?”

Steve hesitated, but the promise of warmth eventually won over whatever war was going on in his head, and he nodded.

Once they were situated next to each other beneath the blankets, shoulders touching just barely, Steve began to talk.

“I don’t like the cold.”

Tony didn’t comment on the obvious statement. He looked at Steve and remained silent, letting him take the time he needed.

“The ice made it worse, but even before...” Steve was staring into the fireplace as if he was directly looking at his past. “We didn’t have a lot, when I was growing up. Most of the time, the heating was broken and we didn’t have the money to buy more blankets.”

Steve’s voice went quiet, so much Tony almost missed his next words. “I haven’t been out in the snow like that since the ice. I’ve never wanted to, even.”

Tony tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. “I’m glad we did,” he whispered.

Steve turned to look at him, pleasant surprise coloring his features. “Yeah?”

Tony smiled. “Yeah.”

He hesitated. He didn’t know if Steve would appreciate any stories about Howard, but he felt like he had to acknowledge Steve’s honesty somehow.

“I always hated the holidays as a kid.” Tony fought against the tightness in his throat. He hadn’t really thought about how Christmas used to be ever since December 16th 1991. “Howard didn’t...” He shook his head, restarted the sentence. “We didn’t really celebrate. As a family, I mean. My father would drag us to a few important galas, ceremonies... but that was it, really. He didn’t like it very much whenever Jarvis tried to give me a normal Christmas.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve said softly.

Tony shook his head. “Nothing to be sorry about. And I’d say being stuck in a cabin with a national icon is a pretty good outcome.”

The playful tone Tony had wanted to go ended up sounding more desperate than anything else.

Steve frowned. “Tony?”

Distantly, Tony realized he was shaking.

It was weird; the room wasn’t _that_ cold, and he’d lived with his shitty childhood for way too long to still be so upset about it. Steve was probably already regretting -

Warmth settled around him.

Tony blinked, and Steve blushed a little in response. For a moment, it seemed like either of them would pull away any second, but Tony figured _screw it_ and gave in to the easy comfort Steve’s arm around his shoulders provided and snuggled a little closer to him.

And honestly, he didn’t mean to fall asleep like that, it just sort of happened.

 

* * *

 

 

When awareness slowly came back to Tony the next morning, the first thing he noticed was that his mattress was moving.

It slowly heaved up and down with a rhythm that almost sent Tony back to sleep, if not for the sudden realization that mattresses should not be doing that.

Tony tensed and opened his eyes, then it all came rushing back to him.

He didn’t even remember feeling sleepy, much less falling asleep _on top of Steve_ , but that’s where he currently was.

Steve wasn’t awake yet, which made the whole thing even worse, because it left Tony with the freedom to stare as much as he wanted to.

The sunrise doused the whole room in warm light and Tony was close enough to see how the sun caught in Steve’s unfairly long lashes, how his skin started to glow and his blond hair was shining. Jesus. He’d always thought Steve was gorgeous, but this was something else entirely.

And Tony was laying on top of him, with Steve’s arms carefully encircling his waist.

Tony’d always prided himself in his genius, but in that moment, Tony’s brain short-circuited. Before the logical side of his brain could stop him, Tony had already laid his lips on Steve’s. The kiss was light and careful, but nevertheless enough to wake Steve up.

As soon as Tony felt him moving, he jumped backwards, nearly falling off the couch in the process.

Steve blinked and stared at him, probably wondering in what kind of weird dream he’d ended up in.

Tony was contemplating whether or not convincing Steve that the kiss had just been a dream would work, when he came to a conclusion of his own. “You kissed me.”

Well; it wasn’t like there was any use denying it, but Tony’s mouth was faster than him once more. “It’s cold.”

Steve stared at him.

“My brain probably just, froze,” Tony went on, aware of the fact that he probably sounded like a complete idiot. “So let’s just forget that happened.”

Steve averted his eyes biting his lip. Tony frowned; yeah sure, it wasn't exactly common curtesy to just kiss people while they were asleep, but why was he looking so uncom- 

Tony's entire brain screeched to a halt when he saw Steve lick his lips and felt him angle his hips away from where they'd been perfectly aligned with Tony's. 

He grinned. So that was why Steve had been reluctant to join him yesterday. 

"You know what? This totally happened. I'm totally on board with this."

Steve looked back at him in surprise, and then they were kissing again.

This time, there was no hesitation, no carefulness, and most importantly, Steve responded to Tony’s kisses.

Soon enough, Tony felt Steve’s tongue and parted his lips eagerly, feeling more than hearing Steve’s groan as he licked into his mouth.

Tony unconsciously pressed his body closer to Steve’s. He wanted, needed to feel him as much as possible while he still could; who knew what would happen once the bubble of their secluded cabin bursted.

Steve’s arms tightened around him in response. One was still around his waist, the other slowly travelled upwards to his neck, until all Tony felt was Steve.

A mangled version of Steve’s name escaped his lips and broke their kiss. Steve’s cheeks were colored a lovely shade of pink, and his breath tickled Tony’s chin, rough and fast.

God, Tony _wanted_ him.

He rolled his hips and felt the hard outline of Steve’s cock against his thigh.

Steve gasped in response, his hands tightened around Tony and held him still. “Tony- ”

“Please.” Tony didn’t even know what he was pleading for, but he didn’t want it to end here, that much he was sure.

Steve didn’t protest when he traced little kisses down his throat to his neck.

A breathy little _“Oh”_ escaped Steve’s mouth as Tony stared to suck and nibble on his skin.

He let his hands wander over Steve’s pectorals to his belly, gliding lower and lower over twitching muscles.

“This okay?” Tony whispered into Steve’s collarbone, fingers toying with the hem of his pants.

Steve was looking at him with wide eyes, and Tony saw the overwhelming desire in them as clear as glass. Steve bit his lip. “I haven’t even... We haven’t even had a date yet.”

Tony snorted. “You can still take me out all you want after I’ve made you forget your own name.”

Steve inhaled sharply. “I- Yeah. Please, Tony.”

Tony smiled and went to work.

 

* * *

 

 

As it turned out, the only thing that was open on he 25th of December was a Christmas market two towns over.

Also, the power would take another day to be fixed and Steve had used his best pleading puppy eyes on Tony.

_I really want to take you on a date. Come on Tony, it’ll be fun. If we stay in here we’re just gonna freeze even more._

Seriously, how had he been supposed to resist?

And he couldn’t even say that he was regretting it.

They were walking through the narrow streets pressed against each other by the shoulders, their fingers lightly entwined. Some of the stalls were producing the sweet smell of waffles, cookies or mulled wine, others had cheery music play loud enough for everyone to hear, and then there were those with handcrafted goods. Everyone was wrapped in thick winter’s clothing against the snow still falling from the sky, and although it was just midday, the market was quite busy.

Somewhere above them, church bells were ringing.

“I’ve never been to one of these,” Steve said quietly.

“Me neither.” Tony found himself smiling.

Normally, he’d associate all the music and the food and the lights with how cold and quiet his own childhood had been, but with Steve at his side, it all made him feel warm and fuzzy.

“What would you like to eat?” Steve asked him, gently putting an arm around his shoulders.

Tony wasn’t blushing, he really wasn’t, but that warm feeling curled low in his belly and made him smile. “I’ve never had Crêpes,” Tony said, the fact coming to him out of nowhere. Suddenly, he found himself wanting to try it.

Steve smiled at him. “Let’s go get some.”

Tony had already spotted a small, round stall with pink decorations all over it that made it look old-fashioned. For some reason, it looked charming to him, not silly.

They both decided to get their Crêpe with sugar and cinnamon, and the sweet taste added to the fuzzy feeling in his belly.

“Hey, look,” Steve said a while later, nudging his shoulder to show him an old man selling a bunch of knitted hats.

Tony didn’t have to turn and look to know that Steve was already on his way to buying one. “Steve,” Tony said amusedly. “Don’t you already have several of these?”

Steve turned, with flushed cheeks and a glint in his eyes. “I know, but you don’t!”

Which was how, a few moments later, Steve was tugging the red and golden hat over his ears. “Merry Christmas, Tony.”

Tony smiled at his ridiculous grin and vowed to himself that he’d find Steve a present as well. It was Christmas after all.


End file.
